Enter the Fairy of the Crystal Forest! (Delilah + Menel)

So there are specifications for taming a creature. Delilah tilted her head to the side as she thought about her problems. Of course capturing will be acceptable, they could bring it to actual beast master and have them tame it, or release the wolf somewhere far away so it wouldn’t bothered the lady again. But then they could just run all the way back to the area again and start killing the chickens. Speaking of which when they finally got close to the lady’s house, there were greeted with a huge brood.

“Chickens!” Delilah squealed in delight seeing the varieties of birds clucking about in the open. Some ran away at her loud voice, while most just rooted to the spot. The girl wasted no time approaching the closest one and gave them some gentle pets. When she dug out the some seeds from her inventory a few braver one came over, curious and wanting some snacks. Soon enough she was picking up one and hugging it like it was her lifelong pet. Never mind that some doesn’t like to be picked up and was pecking her to try and get her to let go. She was so distracted, she didn’t even noticed the lady coming out of the house. Thankfully Menel was more on track and soon they were on their way to the location where the wolf was last seen.

As they walked deeper into the woods, Delilah grew a little bit nervous. She took out her one explosives and one buff potion, keeping them on her hand. The buff potion was one of her experimental ones. If she made it correctly then whoever she doused the potion on will have an incredible speed boost, with hopefully no side effect. Her explosive was one of her basic potion given to her when she transitioned from a cleric. She had not used any since then nor did she make any of them herself.

"Okay, stay nice and quiet Delilah. From here on out we don't want to draw attention."

She nodded and kept herself close to Menel. It was not easy to see around the forest, the crystal leaves creating an array of dazzling colours and multitude of shadows. She could only strain her ears to listen hard for any movement around them and hope that they would find the wolf first before they found them. She really wished she has at least one sleeping potion.

It was sweet that Menel did not point those chicken parts that were strewn about on the path. Delilah has been trying very hard in not looking at them. She still noticed it, but she chose to not acknowledge them. Instead she grabbed on to Menel’s cape for a small bit of comfort. She just focus on taking one step at a time in going through the forest, keeping her eyes ahead and on the open ground. Not on the bits and pieces strewn around the edge of her vision.

Suddenly Delilah bumped into Menel’s hand. They finally found the wolf, and the young shaman was absolutely conflicted. On one hand, the critter was beautiful. The crystal on their back cast such pretty colours over the silver grey fur. Their red eye was positively enchanting, like bright red rubies. Then she saw the equally red blood dripping off their maw and she was horrified. She buried her face into Menel’s cape, trying to hide from the sight and also prevent herself from making any noise.

“So what now?” she whispered quietly. She held the two potions close, unsure which she should be using first. This might be way too much for her first battle, but she definitely will not let her friend get hurt like the deer. Even if it means she will get hurt instead. The wolf thankfully ignored them and just loudly chomping on the carcass, ears flicking back and froth.

“So what now?”

The quite whisper was like a gunshot to Menel's ears, and more importantly to the wolf's. The reason Menel hadn't said anything out loud - not even to whisper was immediately apparent. Across the forest from them the wolf stopped eating its meal and its ears swiveled to get a bearing on where that so-quiet noise had come from. Menel bit back a natural instinct to curse in the hopes that the wolf might not zero in on them, but that's exactly what it did.

With a howl that sent shivers down Menel's spine and echoes through the crystalline forest. the wolf charged straight for them. Menel reacted the moment that the beast started toward them, shoving Delilah backwards and moving to the side and forwards himself. He was built to fight, and she... clearly wasn't. "Now we fight!"

Slavering and foaming at the mouth the animal attacked Menel head-on. It was the master of its domain and it knew it. Menel was just glad that this was a lone member of its species. After all wolves usually traveled in packs, and a group of these creatures would have been far more than they were capable of handling. Just the one might prove to be.

Menel quickly blocked the creatures mouth with the flat of his sword, and was nearly thrown aside by its strength. Only by quickly adding the second blade to the first did he manage to dig his heels into the loamy earth and manage to stay on foot. Muscles taunt, and adrenaline pumping Menel pushed back against the wolf which snarled and snapped at his defensive line. It was more hesitant the second time; it hadn't expected resistance, and now it batted a paw at him. The act forced him to block again.

He was going to need a little help.

Everything happened so fast. She swore she used the lowest whisper volume her throat can manage, but the wolf still heard her. They turned around and immediately charged towards them. Delilah could do nothing but yelp as she was pushed back into the bushes. She tumbled in and laid upside down. Flailing wildly trying to right herself back up to see what is going on. She doesn’t want to fight the wolf. She doesn’t want Menel to fight. She doesn’t want anyone to fight period!

She got back up on the feet and held the buff potion tight in her hand. There was a small tink of glass cracking. Soon it turned into a loud crack as Delilah hurled the buff potion right at Menel. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt, weak glass was still glass afterall. The liquid leaked out of the cracked glass and sink into the swordsman’s arm. Delilah has her finger crossed that no side effect will appear, or if that there were any it was all visual side-effect.

The wolf however got attracted to the source of the sound and glanced towards the shaman. They seemed to consider for a bit, before abandoning the swordsman and charged straight towards Delilah. She stayed rooted to the spot, mind blanking out on what she was supposed to do. Maybe if she could hug it would leave them alone? Can they be bribed with food?

Her thought run fast and rampant, but she was frozen in confusion.

The wolf howled as the sword cut into them. On their back, their crystal crackled and sparked. They twisted on the spot and fired off the rocks. Delilah put up her arm, but the shards were sharp enough to cut deep into her health and the trees behind her. She shook it off easily, this doesn’t even register on her pain scale. What she did notice was Menel also getting showered by sharp crystal shards.

However, choosing at that moment to run towards him was a mistake. They may not be able to walk anymore, but they could still launch themselves at the shaman. Their maw latched on to her arm and toppled her over.

“No no no! You have to let go! Don’t be mean!” Delilah said frantically, her hand tried to pry the wolf off of her. The wolf wasn’t helping the situation by biting down harder. Suddenly there was a soft crack. It turned into a soft dangerous hiss and then a bang! A small explosion separated the two. Delilah slammed in to a tree trunk, while the wolf tumbled back into the clearing. There was large chunks of the wolf missing on the chest.

Despite that, the wolf still stood up. The crystal glowing brighter, bright lightening lash out at anything in the vicinity. It started to propagate across the wolf, filling up all the wounds and letting out wave of energy. The health bar of the wolf refilled to full and small lines danced above the wolf’s head.

Delilah took a while to come back. The blast made her ear ring and head hurt. She blinked and tried to shake off the numbness that crawled over her limbs. By the time she comes to, Menel was engaged into a deep battle with the wolf. A glittering display of lightening and blades danced right before her.

She sat on the floor with wide eyes. One part of her mind was still worrying how hurt they both are and they really shouldn’t fight like that, yet what’s on the forefront was how cool Menel looked battling the wolf. The blades that dance through the air were met with sharp crystals, creating pretty sparks. Magical electricity pulsed off the wolf’s back every now and then, an attempt to force the swordsman back so they could catch their breath. Delilah was so mesmerized by the fight she did not noticed just how much her health dropped from the collateral damage. Not even when the crystal shards actually embed in her arms as she was batting them away from view. Nor when the lightening pulse reached her and sending pain through her limbs. She noticed none of it.

Slowly but surely, Menel was shaving away the creature’s health. Despite the elite status, the wolf’s move set has been the same without any change. Biting when they can and charging up a magical lightening whenever possible. Eventually the crystal ran out, leaving the wolf back a craggy mess and the lightening ceased completely. A single hit would defeat it, leaving a solid crystal core as a proof of their defeat.

This time Delilah waited, only when she was absolutely sure that there were no surprises from the wolf, she got up on her feet and limp-run to Menel. “Are you okay?”

The longer that the battle went on, the more injured Menel became. Yet the pain could not and did not stop him. His limbs burned with the need to stop, his injuries so consuming that they began to fade away to his mind. Pain was something his mind was long used to, and he knew what to do with it when it became like this. He accepted it, dove into the pain and weakness of his body and flowed through it.

A dagger pierced his shoulder, but he didn't notice. He kept moving, kept attacking.

So consumed by battle was he, that he almost didn't notice when it stopped. One last blow drove the beast to its knees and it moved no more. He hit it several more times, mind not registering the fact that the wolf was down and then suddenly it clicked and a rain of weapons fell from the sky. They lay strewn across the ground, a hazardous minefield that echoed the battle he had just completed.

He swayed where he stood, his body heavy now that everything was done, the lack of adrenaline seemed to slow the world down. The blade in his now-numbed fingers slid out, and hit the ground with a dull noise. Distantly he heard Delilah talking to him but the words didn't really register. Languidly he blinked at her, his eyes distant. Without the pulse of fighting to keep him going the pain was starting to come back also, but all he could focus on for some reason was the fact that she was injured.

"You're hurt." Menel's words were slightly slurred from exhaustion. "You should heal yourself."